Accepting The End [Zombie Apocalypse]

Chapter 6

As long as Phalen could remeber he knew he wasn't attracted to females. From the time Emily Robertson tried to kiss him on the slide in first grade, to the time he was asked to a dance by a girl in ninth grade, accepting graciously, but refusing to put his spindly fingers on her velvet dress the night of. 

These memories flooded Phalens brain with concern as Catherine drove the car down a deserted highway for what seemed like forever. Phalen hated the long drive up to the Deception Pass bridge. Vague memories of camping with Maddison's family and mesquito bites on his long legs plucked at his heart. He took a deep breath into the warm air as it filled into the truck window. 

"Phalen?" Sunny asked, her hazel eyes catching in the sunlight. 

"Yes Sunshine?" Phalen reponded, trying to push away his thoughts and feelings about women. If he wasn't attracted to females, how come he had shown no signs of attraction towards any male? 

At the name Sunshine, Sunny winced. 

"Can I call you-" 

"No, please don't." Sunny responded, staring into Phalens baby blue eyes, "Only my mother called me that." 

"Right." Phalen corrected himself, "Sunny. Um, your question?" 

"How can you tell if someones in love?" She asked somewhat quietly, as if it was embarrassing. Or to hide it from Catherine, who stared intently ahead. 

"W-what?" Phalen asked, "Why do you ask?" 

Sunny shrugged and turned around toward the bed of the truck, through the dirty window there was the rest of the group, their hair flopping in the wind and their bodies bouncing with every jolt the truck made. She pointed her finger at Laine and Maddison who sat shoulder to shoulder, closer than anyone else. 

"Are they in love?" Asked Sunny, turning to meet Phalens gaze, Phalen just kept staring out into the bed of the truck. 

"I-" Phalen turned to Sunny, "I don't know." 

Sunny smirked and jostled back around to face the windshield, "You don't even know what love is, do you?" 

Phalen was taken aback. He creased his eyebrows and stared straight into the nature that flew by. With every mile the car drove, the words Sunny spoke to him echoed in his head. It bounced and hollered as the car jostled and danced on the cracking pavement. 

You don't even know what love is. 

"Maybe I don't." He thought. But how could he not have felt it before. His parents, relatives, Maddison? Izabell? His very best friends, of course he loved them. But maybe Sunny was talking about something different. 

As the scenery changed, so did the moods of the passengers. Clouds rolled over the sun, which dropped the tempurature a couple of degrees and all Phalen wanted was a nice tree to curl up underneath and rest. The pleather seats of the car were not much help to his sleepyness. 

The bridge could be seen up ahead, teal and rusted. 

The air was silent, the car steadily rolled forward. No one in the car moved, in fear of attracting unwanted and unnecessary attention. Catherine drove the truck over the bridge. Calm waters churned below, and Phalen wanted to dive into them, to feel the cold embrace of the sea and taste the salty waters on his tongue. 

Once the bridge was crossed, Ann let out a deep breath. Phalen knew heights were not her thing. 

Catherine parked the car next to the small set of bathrooms and the group of eight wandered to the middle of the road to talk. An open space so they could moniter everything. The group hunched tightly together,